Anita Nair
This is Anita Nair’s first novel, and quite a good start. I could identify with it quite a bit, probably because of the Kerala setting, and therefore the familiarity with the kind of characters that appear in the background.
Having said that, the protagonist is quite a universal character. Mukundan, a retired government official, retires to his village and his childhood home, not by choice, but by the machinations of fate.
This is the story of how he faces the ghosts of his past, and understands that his fragile character is not equipped to deal with them. The same character which tends to fix the blame on external entities when it’s not able to fulfill the desires of the present, and the aspirations of the future.
This is also the story of ‘One-screw-loose’ Bhasi, ostensibly a house painter, but one with the ability to heal the human mind.
The story is about human nature, its selfishness, the games that the mind plays on itself and the redemption that happens when it faces its own inabilities and conquers them.